State eyes law to permanently allow to-go cocktails, remote public meetings

This article originally appeared in the Statehouse News Service on February 28, 2024 and was written by Chris Lisinski.

Below are excerpts from the Massachusetts Election Modernization Coalition’s statement on Gov. Maura Healey’s proposal that would allow, but not require, municipalities to provide hybrid access to some public meetings.

“It will shut people out of the democratic process by only allowing — and not requiring — municipalities to provide hybrid participation options,” the groups said in a joint statement. “Giving every government body complete discretion about how to provide public access to their meetings means people with disabilities or other reasons they can’t attend meetings will be completely shut out when city councils, select boards, or school committees decide to hold meetings exclusively in person.”

Authors urged lawmakers to guarantee hybrid access to public meetings. Organizations that signed onto the joint statement include the ACLU of Massachusetts, Boston Center for Independent Living, Disability Law Center, Common Cause Massachusetts, League of Women Voters of Mass., the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, MASSPIRG, the New England First Amendment Coalition, and the New England Newspaper and Press Association.

The groups added that they feel Healey’s proposed remote meeting language should go before a different legislative panel, the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, because it “has substantial expertise in this area and is able to properly consider the application of the Open Meeting Law to state agencies as well as municipalities.”

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